The demigods read: The Last Olympian
by arryousuf
Summary: A normal meeting of counselors is interrupted by Apollo telling the campers that they need to read the future. With the arrival of Rachel, how will the demigods react to TLO.
1. Prologue

**The idea of the characters reading the books is so overdone but in many cases incomplete. So, I thought I might do something different. Okay. To clarify, this takes place after BOTL but before TLO. It's a reading the future FF.** **Anyways, on with the prologue. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or anything even closely affiliated with it.**

* * *

It was a typical meeting at Camp-Half Blood and Percy was bored out of his mind. Clarisse and Annabeth were arguing about brawn vs. brain, Lee Fletcher and Katie Gardener were arguing about some sort of accident with fire.

Travis and Connor Stoll were arguing among themselves; probably about their next prank, Percy pitied their next victim.

The only two counselors that were not arguing were Beckendorf and Selena, that was only because they were too busy laughing with each other, tangled together at the corner of the room.

What had started off as a meeting about battle strategies had deteriorated into single arguments and in some cases couple alone time, Percy noted. 'Seriously get a room,' he thought as they lightly kissed.

Reclining back on his chair he closed his eyes in an attempt to zone everything out. A meditation technique Chiron had thought him. Apparently it was supposed to be useful to concentrate during and before battle.

The only time it really did help calm down was after a particularly vivid nightmare about camp burning or the his friends dying. More than once he got up, off the floor with only the sight of twisted bed sheets and the echoes of his friends' dead faces to greet him.

He couldn't believe how close they had come to all dying last summer. If Grover hadn't cause that panic... well they probably wouldn't even be here now. He had taken to more and more missions recently, but it wasn't nearly enough. The only good thing that came out of this war was that Dionysus had left two days ago to help the Gods contain the Titans and the monsters.

Not that they were succeeding, thought Percy bitterly. He couldn't help but be annoyed at the Gods inaction. Had they acted sooner than just the winter of Thalia's 16th birthday, then this whole thing could have probably been avoided. But, he tried not to dwell on what ifs and what could have beens; it would only eat him up.

He heard his name being called out. Opening his eyes, he saw that all the counselors were staring at him.

"Percy, could you at least listen to what we're saying. After all, only the fate of the world depends on it," Annabeth said.

Percy, rolled his eyes, trust Annabeth to be melodramatic. "Yeah sure, so what's going on?"

Beckendorf looked straight at him with his eyebrows raised an a incredulous expression on his face, "Man, where have you been the last 10 minutes. We were talking about weak spots in Kronos's army to exploit and attack."

10 minutes! 'Stupid A.D.H.D., its not his fault he had a genetically short attention span. "Yeah sorry about that. I was just thinking."

Annabeth smiled, "Well the world must really be going to Hades if Seaweed Brain is trying to think."

Most of the counselors suppressed smiles except Connor and Travis, who had no reservation about insulting anybody, just laughed outright.

"Very witty Annabeth" he replied in his most sarcastic tone.

"Thank you, I try my best" Annabeth replied in an equally sarcastic tone.

Oblivious to the fact that most of the counselors were trying not to laugh at the pair of them they just continued to stare at each other smiling, just happy to finally be able to joke around without the immediate threat of death on their heads. They were interrupted by a powerful, bright light which encompassed the entire room, rendering even the deepest corners of the room shadow-less.

Out of the light stepped out Apollo in all his shining glory. He seemed much more serious than Percy had ever seen him. His appearance, completely changed. He looked in his late 30's and wore a solid gold Greek armor. His solid gold breastplate had slight monster dust on it. Evidence of Apollo's recent fight. The light that Apollo usually radiated seemed dim, almost as if he himself was weaker.

However, the God still radiated an aura of power that any immortal being would have around them. With Apollo, it felt like Percy was basking in the harsh rays of the sun, at mid-afternoon when the sun was the strongest. He thought he could also hear the echoes of a concert going on.

Chiron bowed, all the demigods following suit, "Lord Apollo, it is an honor to see you here. However, we thought you and Artemis were hunting Krios on the outskirts of Mount Tam?"

Apollo sighed, "Yeah, well he retreated back to Mt. Tam and we couldn't follow him there. As for why I'm here." For the first time since entering, Apollo got a mischievous smile on his face, "I want to give you a book, about the future." Was it just Percy's imagination or did Apollo's eyes linger on him longer than the rest of the people in the room.

"Enjoy, oh and try not to kill each other." With one last smile Apollo disappeared.

"So where's the book" Lee Fletcher questioned?

As if on cue, another bright flash lit the room and Apollo re-entered the room, but this time with none other than...

"Rachel" Annabeth screamed. Whirling around to face Apollo she continued, "What is she doing here, she's mortal."

"Calm down, and second, yes, she is mortal but she plays a role in the book. Goodbye everyone, I wish I could stay to read, but Artemis is already screaming at me to return to help her and her hunters. Oh, and try not kill each other." With that he quickly flashed out of the room, while everybody in the room averted their eyes.

Chiron, who had gotten into his wheelchair, said, "Okay, lets start..."

"Wait" Clarisse exclaimed. A little more quietly she said, "Can we call Chris."

Nobody said anything as Chiron nodded and brought Chirs from his cabin. "Ok now we can begin, Percy start reading."

Rachel, who had been just standing in her place the whole time moved over to Percy and gave him the book. They both slid down with their backs against the wall sitting next to each other.

The other demigods took similar postures around the room making it seem like some sort of ritual or prayer.

Percy cleared his throat and started, "I Go Cruising With Explosives."

* * *

**Ok, there's the prologue. Did you like the idea, or hate it. Do you want me to continue, or add anything or anybody. Since this is so overdone I want to know whether I should continue with this FF or just delete it? So, tell me what you think.**


	2. I Go Cruising With Explosives

**I'm glad that people enjoyed the idea and one of the reviews said that I should add Thalia, Nico and Grover and I agreed. However, I couldn't add Grover because he went missing for two months and this reading the stories takes place around that time.**

**Just a quick clarification, all sentences between '...' is a characters thoughts. That means no P.O.V.**

**Disclaimer: Not even sure why I bother writing these anymore.**

* * *

**I GO CRUISING WITH ****EXPLOSIVES, **Percy started reading.

Before he could continue the door to the big house opened and Thalia and Nico walked in.

"Now what" Clarisse muttered.

Annabeth got up and hugged Thaila, "What are you doing here?"

Disentangling herself from Annabeth, she said, "Lady Artemis was willing for one hunter to return to know about the future, and since I know you all the best.." she shrugged, "I came."

Nico, who had just been awkwardly standing behind the two, said, "Same thing with me, my dad wanted to know what happens in the future and he sent me here to find out."

After Percy and Nico greeted each other, both Thalia and Nico sat down, Thalia next to Annabeth and Nico on the right of Percy.

Percy opened his mouth to start reading but Thalia interrupted, "Wait, we can't read a story like this." She then strode over to the red curtains and drew them over the windows giving the room a reddish orangish glow. She then proceeded to close the lights and lamps making the room dark.

She gave the room an appraising glance, "There, now you can start Percy."

Rolling his eyes at Thalia's antics he finally started,

**The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.**

Percy paused, "Damn, thanks blackjack," but he was still excited about the "my car" part.

"Well, it skips straight to the action doesn't it" Beckendorf remarked.

**Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week,**

"This means that the book takes place in a couple of months," Nico said.

"Thanks for the obvious Death Breath" Thalia said.

"I was making sure everyone realized pine-cone face" Nico glared at her, but she just glared back.

Percy continued,

**but my ****mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a ****short spin.**

Annabeth interrupted, "Your off taking a vacation with Rachel and we're fighting for our lives." She was extremely irritated and slightly hurt that Percy decided to hang out with Rachel rather than her.

"Anna..."

"None of us want to hear your excuses Seaweed Brain" she said icily, "just continue reading." With a discontented sigh, he kept on reading.

Meanwhile, Rachel was actually wondering whether her questions would be answered. She actually enjoyed spending time with Percy and was glad that they seemed to be good friends in the future. However, she did feel some guilt, it was clear that Annabeth liked Percy and vice versa, and here she was just making more of a rift between them.

**Now, I know you're thinking, Wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah,**

Connor interrupted "That's not at all what we were thinking Percy, is that what you were thinking Travis."

"Nope, not one bit. Looks like you got to work on you mind-reading skills Perce" Travis said.

Katie gave a look that pretty much said, 'How could such idiots be born,' "Just please keep reading Percy."

**but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up ****demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous ****thing I'd ever done.**

"I guess this means mom told Paul about me being a demi-god. He seems to be taking it well" Percy asked, said.

No one could respond to that so he just kept on reading.

**Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over ****her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas.**

Both Percy and Rachel blushed brightly at this, and Percy was already starting to be angry that his thoughts were on display.

The rest of the counselors were snickering except Annabeth. Even Chiron seemed to trying not to smile.

"Percy thinks Rachel is hot, that's so cute" Silena gushed. This just made both Percy and Rachel more embarrassed and Annabeth seemed to be resembling Pelseus with her flared nostrils. Percy could almost imagine steam coming out of her nostrils, a thought that was both terrifying and hilarious in equal measure.

**"Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.**

**We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice-glittery green and ****smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us. ****My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.**

"Why is the book telling us this" Clarisse asked?

Annabeth responded, "It was probably meant to be for mortals, so they're just giving context." Clarisse nodded, and Percy continued.

**"So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."**

**"Oh . . . right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days.**

**I didn't get a lot of offers ****like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen ****pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.**

'At least Percy has a family' thought Thalia bitterly. Annabeth, as if sensing Thalia's thoughts put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Thalia just gave her a quick smile that said 'Everything is alright, quit worrying.' This book already seemed to be bringing out unruly emotions from her.

**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really ****tempting.**

"Like it wasn't for the rest of us" Annabeth said.

"I never said that, look this is the future and I'm don't know why I'm doing this. Maybe I actually have a good reason."

Annabeth snorted derisively but remained quiet.

**Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was this ****prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.**

"Bad! It's more than just bad" Lee Fletcher exclaimed.

"Can we stop interrupting every 5 seconds" Thalia said exasperated that it was taking so long to get through one chapter.

**"Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's always bad for you, right?"**

**She had a point.**

Rachel grinned at that, 'Looks like we _are _good friends in the future if I know him that well' she thought.

**"I really want to go," I promised. "It's just-"**

**"The war."**

Everyone had solemn faces at this. The war had never felt more real than it had now.

**I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist-the magic veil that distorts human vision. ****She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer ****when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye ****with a blue plastic hairbrush.**

Everybody starting roaring with laughter. Percy clutched his sides while Travis between breaths of trying to regain control asked, "Seriously?"

Percy only nodded mutely, his body still shaking with suppressed laughter.

Thalia, being the first to recover looked at Rachel and said, "Well if you ever want to be in the hunters; I'm sure you'll have a place now."

Rachel just nodded, slightly amused and embarrassed at everybody's reactions.

Clarisse gave an approving nod, and said, "At least you're brave."

This just set everybody into another round of laughter.

After recovering, Percy continued reading,

**She put her hand on my arm.**

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at that.

**"Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad . . ." Her voice faltered.**

**"Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.**

**Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be nice to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy m the fall."**

**"The school where your mom went?"**

**"It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"**

Thaila made a face at that, "Idiot, trying to force you to go to somewhere you don't want."

Rachel gave a surprising glance towards Thalia; Thalia was the last person she expected to be sympathetic towards her plight.

"This isn't happening now, guess I better prepare myself" Rachel said, shuddering just at the thought of having to go to a school like that.

**I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the ****Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a ****socialite.**

Chris whispered into Clarisse's ear, "I think you'll be good friends."

The incredulous look on Clarisse's face was all the response Chris needed to know what Clarisse felt about that.

Clarisse on the other hand was thinking more along the lines of 'Protest rallies to save endangered species! Eugh.'

**She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."**

**"Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"**

**"Yes . . . but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk-" She ****stopped abruptly.**

**"Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean . . . so serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"**

More snickering erupted at that comment.

Silena said, "Percy, she's basically asking you out."

"What! That's ridiculous" Percy exclaimed.

Rachel turned to face him, "Well glad to know you find the idea of a date with me ridiculous."

"No, its not that, its just.." he ran a hand through his hair nervously wondering how in the world did his life get complicated so fast. "Rachel, I was just surprised, that's all."

He saw her lips twitching suspiciously and realized she was trying to hold back laughter. Instead of commenting he read on to save himself further embarrassment.

Annabeth just glared stonily at the wall.

**She pursed her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, ****and it's nice to be together."**

**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.**

"Checking out Rachel Percy" Beckendorf said; not being able to resist teasing Percy.

Percy just went red in response and continued,

**We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself ****needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from ****all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.**

**"Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."**

**She nodded. "And so . . . hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"**

Everybody started laughing again except Annabeth and Thalia, the former was just staring down at her feet wondering whether her love would always be unrequited and the latter didn't care about Percy's girl troubles.

Rachel, by now, was thoroughly embarrassed and quietly asked Percy to continue reading.

Percy, who was just as embarrassed hastily resumed.

**"Oh . . ." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows-slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um . . ."**

Lee Fletcher interjected, "There's no need to make fun of my dads cows."

"Uh..," Percy said, not really knowing what to say to that.

Lee Fletcher burst out laughing, "Oh Apollo, the look on your face."

Percy shot him a quick glare before carrying on.

**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than . . . well, than some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work**

Annabeth interjected, "And, what the hell is that supposed to mean."

"I'm not neccessarily talking about you" Percy replied, cursing for the 5th time that his thoughts were on display.

"Right, because I'm sure you have so many friends that are girls."

Percy had no idea how to respond to that so he just tried to placate her with a remorseful face.

Annabeth, who was in denial about her jealously and anger over Percy's and Rachel friendship just ignored his silent apology and montioned him to continue reading.

**hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.**

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at that, 'Percy was one to talk; he was the most emotionally constipated person she had ever met. Not once did he even mention the kiss in Mt. Saint Helens. Whatever, if it didn't mean anything to him; well then she wasn't going to force him to bring it up.'

**I'm not sure what I would have done next-but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves ****landed on the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!**

Percy grimaced at that, "Great, I'm sure Paul will be excited to lend me his car next time."

A few people gave him sympathetic looks knowing it was hard getting along with you mortal parent, especially when that person is your step dad or mom.

Travis and Conner were lamenting the destruction of a car that could have been so easily avoided.

**Hey, boss, a voice said in my head. Nice car!**

**Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood; but I didn't think my ****stepdad would be real stoked.**

Beckendorf laughed, "That must have taken some serious self control.

**"Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you-"**

**Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.**

**" 'Sup, Percy."**

**Charles Beckendorf, senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge, with ripped ****muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camp's best armorsmiths.**

Silena worriedly said, "Your going on a mission aren't you."

Beckendorf nodded, "Looks like it."

Seeing Silena's concerned face he reassured her and she buried her face into his chest while he held her. She, trying not to think about her boyfriend being in potential danger and just trying to focus on the Charlie's hands around her and the pleasant warmth radiating from his protective body.

**He made some seriously ****ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters ****across country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went flush.**

Everybody smiled nostalgically remembering the mission that just happened 2 weeks ago; even Thalia was impressed.

**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His ****explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.**

"Explosives!" Silena exclaimed. "What do you need them for?"

"I don't know what I'm planning either" Beckendorf quickly replied.

**"Time?" I asked.**

**He nodded grimly.**

**A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning for it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.**

"What were you planning" Annabeth irritatingly asked, forgetting that Percy didn't know himself. She did have an inkling of a suspicion though.

Percy just shrugged in response.

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."**

**"Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me . . . uh, I mean he mentioned you."**

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at that, "You have."

Percy, who seemed to have gone temporarily deaf continued as if an interruption hadn't taken place.

**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you ****guys have to go save the world now."**

**"Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.**

"So modest" Travis muttered.

Connor and some of the other demigods agreed, but it was Nico who surprisingly spoke aloud, "Beckendorf and Percy aren't the only ones fighting the war. One mission wasn't going to save the war."

Beckendorf looked over to Percy but he just shrugged, it was Beckendorf who said it after all.

Silena, angry that everybody was getting caught over a small sentence said, "They're out risking their lives on a dangerous mission and all you care about is getting credit that you helped in the war."

The demigods who had gotten irritated over this fact, namely the counselors and Nico did have the decency to look ashamed and many of them murmured apologies.

Silena, however, wasn't listening and had already resumed her earlier position, her face resting on Beckendorf's chest still worried.

**I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom-"**

Percy winced, 'His mom would be so worried.'

**"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."**

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.**

Yeah, Paul definitely wasn't going to be happy when he found out what happened to his car, but he seemed pretty cool so Percy figured he would understand why there were hoof sized crater on the top of his Prius.

**"Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react.**

Annabeth widened her eyes at that and clenched her fists so hard her fingernails dug into her palm.

Silena raised her head with a huge smile, 'Maybe this book will turn out to have romance after all.'

The rest of demigods except Thalia just laughed at Percy's astonished expression.

Thalia comforted Annabeth, "At least he wasn't the one to kiss _her." _Thalia was more than just pissed that Percy was hurting her best friend and decided to talk to him as soon as possible.

Annabeth just nodded, not trusting herself to speak without screaming.

Rachel was actually a bit pleased, she liked Percy and now she would get to see if he liked her back. Though she did feel another twinge of guilt when she saw Annabeth's downtrodden expression.

Percy was just hiding his flushed face behind the book.

**"Now, get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."**

**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying ****Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to find out.**

Annabeth hated the fact that he didn't even think about her; they had been best friends for almost 5 years now.

**"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."**

Annabeth shifted her gaze at Beckendorf who just smiled sheepishly at her in response.

Percy mentally cursed Beckendorf; did he really have to say that?

**"Oh, gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."**

The demigods in the room laughed at that imagining how funny an outright confrontation would be between Percy and Annabeth.

Annabeth turned her glare over to Percy, "Stupid Seaweed Brain" she muttered.

**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.**

"Glad to know you think its funny" Annabeth said.

"Umm.." he started saying, but he was saved by Percy.

"I'm sorry" Percy said, and he did in fact look remorseful. "We're clearly about to go on a dangerous mission that could maybe end this war and laughing and joking around is just coping mechanism."

Needless to say, everybody was shocked. Most of all Annabeth. She quickly recovered and smiled teasingly, "Seaweed Brain making a valiant speech. What has the world come to?"

Percy grinned, happy that she was no longer mad.

**It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda glowed on the horizon-a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white.**

The tension rose at the mention of the Princess Andromeda.

**From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you might notice the giant ****figurehead-a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped m chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the ****monsters she was being forced to carry.**

Everybody laughed at Percy's thoughts, the tension momentarily breaking.

**Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for New York.**

**"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.**

"God, you could go over the plan" Annabeth grumbled; annoyed that she had no idea what was the plan.

"Well sorry if my future self didn't predict that there were going to be people reading about my life" Percy replied a bit more curtly than he intended.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows, "It was a rhetorical question."

"Oh... I'll just continue reading then" Percy said not really knowing what to say.

"Smooth" Thalia teased.

Some chuckles broke out at this; 'Freakin daughters of Athena,' Percy thought before continuing.

**I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I ****also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.**

"Wait a second" Annabeth muttered to herself. "Bombs, ship full of monsters,"she gasped. "Are you crazy Seaweed Brain" she screamed finally realizing what they were going to try and do.

Percy and the rest of the demigods in the room were utterly surprised at the outburst; still not realizing the plan.

"What? What did I do now" Percy said, a little irritated at the constant interruptions.

"What you're going to do" she said. "You and Beckendorf are going to try and blow up the Princess Anromeda."

All the demigods were shocked at that. There were probably hundreds if not thousands of monsters on that ship and they were just going to waltz in and attempt to blow it up.

Clarisse was the only one unfazed by this but rather gave them an approving nod, "Good plan. It takes a lot of courage to just enter the enemy base like that."

Clarisse's approval didn't make anybody feel better about the plan. Especially Silena who had gone completely stiff when Annabeth had said what they were going to try to do.

**"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."**

**Gotcha, boss, he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat.**

**Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured ****he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.**

"Braided like My Little Pony" Travis repeated before both him and his brother burst out laughing.

The rest of the people in the room also had amused grins, Percy had a real knack to break the tension.

"Your thoughts are hilarious man" Connor exclaimed.

**"Don't wait for us," I told him.**

**But, boss-**

**"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."**

"And how do you plan on getting out" Thalia asked.

Percy opened his mouth to answer but Annabeth responded, "They're surrounded by water, and you're still asking."

Thalia just looked miffed that she hadn't realized that on her own.

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper ****decks of the ship-dracaenaesnake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as telkhines-but we zipped by so fast, none ****of them raised the alarm.**

"So far so good," Annabeth whispered.

** We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I ****climbed off, feeling queasy.**

**Good luck, boss, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!**

Travis laughed, "I doubt that's what they'll get turned into. More likely..." he abruptly stopped when he saw Silena's distraught expression and Beckendorf's glare telling him to 'Shut the hell up.'

Katie shook her head, "Tactless."

The expressions on the demigods faces pretty much said they wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.

**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size-three feet of deadly ****Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.**

"You idiot, monsters can sense celestial bronze" Thalia hissed.

Percy's shocked face was all anybody needed to know he didn't know that.

"What's done is done, just continue so we can know what happens," Annabeth said in a quiet voice.

**Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the ****dim light-the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.**

Silena just tightened her arms around Charlie at that more worried than ever, "You better not die," Silena whispered.

Beckendorf kissed the top of her head, "I won't, I promise" he whispered back.

**They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, ****"Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.**

Silena was surprised at that, she vowed to bring up this comment when Percy and Annabeth got together. It was clear that they liked each other. Only their stubbornness and their idiocy of not telling the other how they felt was stopping them. Though in their defense Silena thought, their parents were also an issue, but she didn't think that would stop either of them; they were both too stubborn, she thought grinning.

Percy's eyes lingered on Annabeth wondering whether he had even got to say goodbye to Annabeth. Not a farewell, I'll going off to die goodbye, but just a normal one between friends. He and Annabeth had grown farther apart during this year; there was no denying that. But, reading this book, he really regretted it now and hoped he still had time to fix his friendship with her.

Unbeknownst to him, Annabeth wanted to make similar amends. Despite everything, she really did miss Percy during the year. He was such an easy person to talk to, and a reliable friend at all times. She was more worried about him than she was letting on.

**"We'll make it back to camp," I promised.**

**For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.**

**"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."**

"You do realize that even if you successfully blow up the ship Kronos won't die. He's a titan lord, it'll take more than a few explosives to kill him" Nico said.

"Yes, I do realize that Nico. Maybe I was just trying to be optimistic" Beckendorf replied exasperatedly.

"Well maybe you should try being realistic" Clarisse muttered but softly enough so that nobody heard hear except Chris, and he wisely kept his mouth shut knowing that Clarisse too, was worried for them. Just in her own special way.

**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above ****us.**

**"I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice-a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat ****loaf sandwich!"**

**"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!**

**"Bah, your brain isn't on board!"**

"Shit, that was convenient," Travis said.

Percy nodded in agreement, if the telkhine had believed that monster then the mission would have flat out failed.

Meanwhile, Annabeth was extremely apprehensive, 'Percy's has the worst luck.' She had the strangest feeling that something was going to go wrong. Something always did in a demigod mission or quest.

**They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines ****started to fade.**

**Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room."**

"You're going to blow up the engine room. Maximum impact. That's good thinking" Lee Fletcher said.

**It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.**

"Sons of Hephaestus tend to be able to do that," Nico added dryly.

**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A ****telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur ****and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his ****keyboard. **

**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but I blocked his ****path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.**

"Nice one, at least you had the brains to kill him quickly," Thalia said.

**"One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go." He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid-Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical ****substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool of demigod heroes-duct tape.**

"Really Percy, duct tape is an essential tool for demigod heroes?" Rachel said. "I seriously doubt that."

"Right, because you have been a demigod for so long, _mortal_" Annabeth replied.

"There is nothing wrong with being mortal; at least my head isn't over inflated" Rachel snarlingly responded.

Annabeth opened her mouth to respond, but Percy stood up and interrupted, "Stop" he screamed! "Just stop, and lets get on with this book. Can't you two get along for the reading of just one book?" Percy feeling that things were calming down between the two sat back down hoping the two girls would follow his example.

Both Annabeth and Rachel sat back down still clearly fuming.

"Percy's got some balls coming between the two" Travis whispered to Connor.

"Yeah, I thought for sure Annabeth was going to stab him" Connor whispered back.

Travis laughed, "That would have been something, a fight between Percy and Annabeth. I wonder who would have won."

Connor didn't have a chance to reply as Percy resumed reading,

**"Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."**

**We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched m sweat.**

**The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at ****40.19° North, 71.90° West, making eighteen knots, which meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This would be our only chance ****to stop it.**

Annabeth nodded in agreement, "It probably would be, which means this is actually a decent plan."

Percy opened his mouth to say thanks but Thalia spoke before he could, "You're right, which is probably why your future-book-self helped them with this plan. There's no way Percy could have planned this all out on his own" Thalia finished with a sweet smile and an innocent look plastered on her face.

Percy just glared at her and decided to continue reading rather than fight with her.

**I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps-so many creatures coming ****down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.**

Silena looked up worriedly, "This doesn't seem like part of the plan. You guys are caught."

This seemed like stating the obvious to Percy, but he refrained from saying that out loud lest he had the wrath of an angry Aphrodite camper on his head.

**I locked eyes with Beckendorf. "How much longer?"**

**"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes ****at least."**

**Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds.**

**"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."**

"You always have to be the hero Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

"It's the only reasonably option" Percy replied.

Annabeth huffed but didn't say anything knowing he was right.

**"Percy-"**

**"Wish me luck."**

**He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise.**

**"Good luck," he said.**

**I charged out the door.**

**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp.**

"You seem to have gotten better punk" Clarisse said.

"Um, thanks Clarisse" Percy said; knowing it was going to be the closest thing to a compliment he would ever get from her.

**I kept climbing-past another ****telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I left him alive-partly because his lunch box was cool, partly so he could raise ****the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head toward the engine room.**

**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster ****occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, ****unfortunately, I speak from experience).**

"I don't remember ever facing a dragon" Annabeth said, "When did you see the inside of a dragon's throat?"

"It was on the quest to save you. When zoe died" Percy sighed.

Thalia just looked down at the reminder. She had always been at odds with Zoe and had regretted it ever since she became a hunter.

**Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they ****didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. Now I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of ****doubted they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.**

Annabeth interjected, "Luke didn't just kill them."

Percy felt his anger rise, 'how could she defend that jerk.' "Really, so you think that he just let them leave the ship."

"Yes, I do" she screamed back. "Luke wouldn't kill innocent mortals."

By now, Percy was shaking with anger, "Well, hate to break it to you, but the Luke that you know and love" he spat out the last word, "is gone. He's replaced by the Lord of Time, who by the way, wants to annihilate all of humanity."

Annabeth just stared down, barely holding back tears. "Just continue reading" she said in a hoarse voice.

Immediately, Percy felt bad, "Annabeth, I'm sorry, I..."

"Just continue" she repeated in the same voice.

**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a ****fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. ****I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab. I'm talking giant like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the ****water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my body.**

"Oh no. This is not good" Beckendorf muttered, worried about Percy.

**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to ****billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them-and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not ****going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.**

"When had you being the son of the sea god ever won you points with any monster" Katie asked?

Percy, who had no reply to that just decided to continue and ignore the question.

**"FFFFffffff,"it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off it was like a garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the ****sun all week.**

"How would you know how that smells like" Connor asked, genuinely curious.

Percy grimaced at the memory, "At the beginning, Tyson lived in a very smelly street, and lets just say there weren't the most pleasant of smells lingering around."

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.**

**"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so-"**

"Really Percy, as if that would work" Thalia said.

Percy shrugged, "It's worth a shot."

**The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift shop, plowing ****through a rack of T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, ****but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.**

**"There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"**

"Well the plans working" Rachel frowned, not sure if that was a good thing.

**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab ****chow.**

**The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.**

"No, really" Nico said sarcastically.

Percy just shot him a quick glare before continuing.

**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab-something about ****Hercules crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.**

The room erupted into laughter.

"Good one Percy" Connor laughed.

Travis nooded in agreement still grinning at the comment.

**Then a weird thought occurred to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going ****forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things, he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in ****the middle of their ugly bellies.**

"Wow," Percy said, "I never thought Paul would help me monster fight."

Rachel was about to comment on how a _mortal _was actually useful, but shut her mouth once she saw Annabeth's expression.

**The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.**

"Yeah that might be a problem" Nico added unhelpfully.

**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the ****fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab ****didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming, "AHHHHHHH!"**

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seventon ****armored vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me, but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its ****armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out the backside.**

There was a short moment of silence before Beckendorf spoke, "Well. That. Was. Amazing."

Even Clarisse seemed extremely impressed.

Connor wistfully said, "I wish I could fight like that."

Percy just smirked, "Well don't worry, a lot of people want to be like me."

Thalia just rolled her eyes, and Annabeth said, "Here's Seaweed Brain getting a big head."

Percy just pouted.

**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in ****a massive heap.**

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on ****their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under ****the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.**

"Now you're weaponless," Annabeth frowned, hating how defenseless he was.

**In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of dracaenae slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were women with green scaly skin, ****yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I ****knew from experience they could use them.**

**"What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss!"**

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE display. I ripped the ****model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first iracaena. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, ****grabbed her friend's spear, and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.**

Nico whistled, "You sure can fight without a sword. You seem to have improved ten-fold since before."

The rest of the counselors agreed. He seemed to be much better.

**"Get him!" she screamed.**

**Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.**

Annabeth felt her heart speed up. 'That was too close. Hurry up Beckendorf' she pleaded silently.

**I didn't care-as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.**

"You're about to die, and you're worried about giving me more time" Beckendorf exclaimed.

"Self-sacrificing idiot" Annabeth muttered.

"Sorry" Percy asked?

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Just read."

**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and ****yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve-about the same age I was when I'd first arrived ****at Camp Half-Blood.**

The room's atmosphere darkened considerably. They had all noticed more demigods going missing, but freakin 12 year olds! There wasn't a word strong enough to describe Kronos's evil.

**That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed-trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos ****was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.**

**No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His ****sword clattered out of his hand.**

Nobody challenged that Percy did the right thing. Not even Clarisse said anything.

**Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.**

**"If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next ****floor. ****I kept climbing.**

"What" Clarisse exclaimed! "Your jeopardizing the mission."

"Well, I couldn't just let him die" Percy replied.

**Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.**

**I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass ****towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.**

**All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad-our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, ****Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter ****mile away.**

"Almost there" Silena whispered to herself.

**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late, Percy."**

**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal collegeage ****guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.**

"Oh shit" Chris muttered, which pretty much summed up how everybody felt.

Silena meanwhile started freaking out knowing this was probably her fault.

**"We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as ****though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful-the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words ****scraped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."**

"For days" Percy asked? "How could he know for days."

Annabeth replied, "He clearly has a spy."

Silena stiffened at that, but nobody noticed except Beckendorf who just thought she was worried.

**"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.**

**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, ****leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and ****snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so fast unless they'd known I was coming.**

"Kronos just said that he knew that you were coming for days, and you were surprised that they knew you were coming" Lee questioned?

"I probably wasn't paying attention to what he said" Percy responded.

**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his ****voice had changed . . . or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long ****before Kronos possessed him.**

"No he wasn't. It's only because of Kronos that he's bad" Annabeth shouted.

Thalia looked down painfully wishing more than anything it was true. But, she had accepted it. Luke was the enemy, and she only hoped that Annabeth got her mind set straight too.

**A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?**

**According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days ****away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd ****fought monsters and gods before.**

Annabeth shook her head, "You're an idiot if you think you can single-handedly take on Kronos."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Percy replied sarcastically.

"I aim to please," she grinned, achieving her goal of reducing the tension.

**As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. I had to remember that.**

**"Come forward," he said. "If you dare."**

**The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt ****my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.**

**Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands-a six-foot-long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn ****to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.**

Percy momentarily paused half scared, half curious to know what was coming next.

Everyone just waited patiently not blaming him for stopping for a moment. They all felt anxious and this wasn't even them fighting Kronos.

**Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because Kronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I ****could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.**

"What the hell" Katie shouted. "That evil bastards cheating."

Everybody looked up at her shocked. She was the last person anybody expected to curse.

She realized that everybody was staring and went red, "What" she said defensively, "I'm just worried for Percy."

Percy sent her a grateful smile and continued.

**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me-the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the years, but now ****nothing seemed to happen.**

The tension seemed to reach a new high at this.

**I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. Dracaenae hissed with laughter.**

"Bastards" Nico muttered.

**Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day now would be good.**

**Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt ****water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I ****lunged forward.**

Everyone was relieved by this. Now at least he had a fighting chance. Or at least as much of a chance you could have when fighting the Lord of Time.

**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face-Luke's face-a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated ****him, it was hard to kill him.**

Annabeth was shocked at that, maybe she had misjudged Percy. He too, she realized had been Luke's friend, however briefly, and had also probably felt betrayed.

Clarisse just seemed angry with his weakness.

**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a gash in the deck ****right between my feet.**

**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.**

"And how do you know how that feels" Chris asked, desperately trying to defuse the growing tension.

"Well, in a moment of anger..." he trailed off, abandoning the pitiful attempt to try reduce the tension.

**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe ****shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered ****what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body. Now I ****understood what he meant. I wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.**

The demigods glanced worriedly at Percy, but his expression remained stoic despite the horror he felt at the description.

**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his ****stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.**

"He's possessed by a Titan Lord" Annabeth said softly. "It'll be a little harder to kill him than that."

Percy just nodded, really wanting to get through this chapter.

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."**

"That idiot's wrong" Annabeth said angrily.

Percy looked up shocked to hear her defend him over Luke. He gave her a hesitant smile which she returned before gesturing to the book.

Feeling slightly better he continued.

**My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head."**

"Which wasn't very nice anyways" Travis muttered to Connor.

Connor nodded his agreement, he too felt betrayed by their brothers actions, and he hated just as much as anybody else.

**"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy ****Olympus.**

**"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.**

**"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face-Luke's face-seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil ****power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"**

Everyone looked horrified at that, and looked at Beckendorf. Silena was just silently looking up at him, begging the Gods to let him live.

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"**

**A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, ****the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.**

"Is that the same person you fought in the arena" Rachel asked?

"Yes, and he is the same demigod that we met in the underworld" Percy said, answering Nico and Thalia's unanswered questions.

**"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."**

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a ****swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.**

Silena took a sharp intake of breath. She was desperately trying to keep from breaking down now.

Beckendorf just looked shocked, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

**"No!" I yelled.**

**Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the ****detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.**

"You've got to give me more credit than that" Beckendorf smiled dryly.

Percy didn't even respond to that, rather he kept reading desperate to know more.

**"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"**

"That was smart" Annabeth complimented Beckendorf. "You tricked them into believing that you were going to set the explosives."

Silena felt a little hope at this, 'Maybe they can still get out alive.'

**"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"**

**"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."**

**"How do you know that?"**

**"Er . . ." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."**

**Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was ****going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any ****good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.**

**Kronos hesitated.**

**Buy the story, I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.**

Thalia seriously doubted that Kronos would buy the story. He was probably too smart for that, but she didn't say it out loud, she didn't want to make everybody worried unnecessarily.

**"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.**

**One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked ****monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of ****peaches.**

"They found out. You better leave, and fast" Nico said.

"They're not in any condition to leave" Travis blurted before he could stop himself.

Silena whimpered, shutting her eyes tight, still trying to maintain control over herself.

**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.**

**"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?"**

**Ethan turned pale. "Um-"**

**"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"**

**Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran.**

**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping ****he would understand: How long?**

**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. Zero. There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ****ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or ****both.**

"The only way would be too..." she trailed off realizing what was probably going to happen. She suddenly felt nauseous, and for the first time in her life, hating that she knew something. More than that she felt disgusted with herself. For feeling relief that Percy actually had a chance to live when Beckendorf probably would die. She felt incredibly guilty that she was happy that Percy probably won't be the one to die, and she felt sick to the stomach that she preferred Percy coming home. She hated herself for it, but it didn't change the fact that she was still relieved over the fact that Percy would probably live.

**Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you ****now. We've known you were coming for weeks."**

**He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm-the Titan lord's symbol.**

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I muttered, "Communication device . . . spy at camp."**

This just confirmed Annabeth's earlier statement and nobody said a word as everybody tried to figure out the most likely suspects.

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. Now drop your sword and ****surrender to me, or your friend dies."**

**I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got ****there. We both would.**

**Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go.**

"No, no, no" Silena started muttering.

**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.**

Percy was shocked with the outcome of events. His naive hope that somehow the mission still might be okay was long gone, and he only wondered whether they would both come out alive.

**The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly-toward the watch on ****his right wrist.**

"Don't you dare" Silena screamed. "You promised. You promised, you would live." She broke down, uncontrollably sobbing into Beckendorf's chest.

"I'm sorry Silena, but I there is no other choice, and I would rather one of us would survive than both of us die" Beckendorf said softly enough so only she could hear. "And remember, I'll always be waiting for you. You really are the best thing that every happened to me."

She just gripped him tighter at these words as if to confirm he was still real.

**I wanted to scream, NO!**

**Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"**

**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.**

**I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of ****monsters and jumped off the side of the ship-toward the water a hundred feet below.**

**I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I barely had time ****to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away-a hundred yards, two hundred yards.**

"I'm just leaving you" Percy said, shell shocked.

Beckendorf looked at him, "It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault except Kronos. There was nothing you could have done."

"But, I could have..."

"NO" Beckendorf shouted. "I don't blame you now and I damn well won't blame you then. You did everything you could have and it's better that somebody go back rather than none of us" Beckendorf finished, trying to assuage some of Percy's guilt.

However, by the look on Percy's face it didn't work.

**Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a**

**massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.**

**Beckendorf, I thought.**

**Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.**

"That's the end of the chapter" Percy said quietly, still in disbelief over what just happened.

The room was completely silent except the cries of Silena.

* * *

**Okay, first real chapter. How was it? OOC? IC? Were the reactions too long? Did you want somebody to speak more? What was good and bad? **

**The feedback would really help me for future chapters. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it, I did try to get everybody in, but obviously there were some people speaking more than others. Also, I didn't know if I made it too dramatic. **

**One last thing, Would you rather Silena to confess that she is the spy beforehand or just wait until it comes up in the book?**


	3. I Meet Some Fishy Relatives

**I'm not sure how many people know this, but several reading the books commentaries have deleted. I was apprehensive to continue this one, but in the end I decided to continue. It would just suck if it got deleted after all the time put into writing this. **

**I'm very sorry for taking so long with the update. I'm moving to Dubai permanently, and it's been a hassle. Moving schools, houses, country. New places, people, everything. The reason it took me so long is that I'm living in a hotel for one month, and the internet prices are pretty ridiculous. I have internet for a short while, and I studiously worked on this chapter. **

**Also, in the last chapter, I wrote Lee Fletcher as the Apollo cabin head. That's a mistake on my part. Lee died at the end of BOTL, so it's Michael Yew who's actually the Apollo cabin head. I apologize for that, and I have him down from this chapter and onward.  
**

**Disclaimer: For those who still don't realize Rick Riordan studies about Norse Gods when he wants to procrastinate. **

* * *

**Chapter Two**

* * *

After a few minutes, in which Silena had calmed down considerably, Percy handed the book to Rachel who started reading.

**"I Meet some Fishy Relatives," **Rachel read.

**Demigod dreams suck.**

**The thing is, they're never just _dreams._ They've got to be visions, omens, and all that other mystical stuff that makes my brain hurt.**

"I couldn't agree more" Nico muttered.

**I dreamed I was in a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California. The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud-Atlas, holding up the sky.**

Thalia's face darkened, "He deserves it."

Everybody loved life too much to say anything else.

**Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames.**

"Like a titan-message" Connor asked?

Annabeth sighed, "No you idiot. They're immortal Titans, they don't need a goddess or a titaness to relay their messages for them."

"Oh" Connor responded intelligently.

**"Quite an explosion," one said. He wore black armor studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side.**

**"It doesn't matter," the other said.**

**This Titan was dressed in gold robes, with golden eyes like Kronos. His entire body glowed. He reminded me of Apollo, God of the Sun, except the Titan's light was harsher, and his expression crueler. "The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed."**

"What challenge" Annabeth asked?

"Do I have to remind you that this _is _the future" Percy replied.

"Wait" Michael interjected before Rachel could start reading again, "Who is that?"

Annabeth quickly responded, "That would be Hyperion. You can think of him as Apollo's Titan counterpart." Annabeth decided to dumb it down for some people who it would take too long to explain to.

**The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror.**

Annabeth had a nagging suspicion that it was Typhon. No other monster could take up the attention of all the Gods, and not be defeated in minutes.

**"I will go east to marshal our forces," the golden Titan said. "Krios, you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys."**

"Who is Krios" Katie asked?

Annabeth opened her mouth to answer but Rachel quickly said, "It's in the book."

**The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while _you_ have all the fun."**

**Under the whirlwind of clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony, "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior. Take my burden so I may fight!"**

**"Quiet!" the golden Titan roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty."**

Thalia frowned, "That is pretty stupid though. Atlas is a much better warrior than Krios or Hyperion. I'm surprised that Kronos didn't realize this."

"Yeah, but Kronos probably thinks that he'll make one of the Gods take his place once he takes over. Not to mention, Titans are always overconfident" Annabeth answered.

**"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight."**

**The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the dawn of the Sixth Age!"**

"Sixth Age" Travis said, confused. "Wouldn't it just be going back to the fourth age?"

Everybody just shrugged.

**The golden Titan erupted into flames and disappeared.**

**"Oh, sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns."**

Percy raised his eyebrows, "He's acting like a kid. Shouldn't he be more regal, and Titan-like.

**The scene shifted. Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood next to me, eavesdropping on the Titans. He had dark silky hair, pale skin, and dark clothes-my friend Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades.**

Beckendorf spoke for the first time, "What the hell are you doing Nico?"

Nico shrugged, "Probably scouting, and eavesdropping."

Percy shot his cousin a concerned glance before returning his attention on the book.

**He looked straight at me, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?"**

Annabeth groaned, "Great, if it's a plan made by you then it's guaranteed to be dangerous and reckless. Speaking of, what is the plan?"

Percy and Nico exchanged glances neither one of them willing to tell Annabeth about the plan. Percy consented, "I'm sure it'll be in the book, lets not ruin it for everybody."

**His words washed over me as cold as the ocean floor, and my dreams went black.**

**"Percy?" a deep voice said.**

**My head felt like it had been microwaved in aluminum foil. I opened my eyes and saw a large shadowy figure looming over me.**

**"Beckendorf?" I asked hopefully.**

Everybody grimaced at the reminder. Most of all Silena, who had gone completely quiet ever since hearing about her boyfriends death. From shock or from sadness, nobody knew.

**"No, brother."**

**My eyes refocused. I was looking at a Cyclops-a misshapen face, ratty brown hair, one big brown eye full of concern. "Tyson?"**

**My brother broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain works!"**

"I doubt it" Clarisse muttered.

Percy shot her a quick glare.

**I wasn't so sure.**

Connor laughed, "See, even you agree with Clarisse."

**My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong. I could hear Tyson, but it was more like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not the regular sounds.**

Most of the room just looked confused at this, not knowing the extent of Percy's powers.

**I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water.**

**Now, being the son of Poseidon and all, I was okay with this. I can breathe underwater just fine, and my clothes don't even get wet unless I want them to. But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammerhead shark drifted through the bedroom window, regarded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room.**

Silence reigned the room until Travis spoke up, "That's messed up." Even by demigods standards, this was weird. Wild monsters didn't just leave you alone.

**"Where-"**

**"Daddy's palace," Tyson said.**

Annabeth gasped, "We finally get to see what his palace looks like."

Percy, who was just as excited said, "Wouldn't you already know though? Didn't you like, memorize all of Greek Mythology."

"There are no descriptions of Poseidon's palace" Annabeth frowned.

**Under different circumstances, I would've been excited. I'd never visited Poseidon's realm, and I'd been dreaming about it for years. But my head hurt.**

**My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion. My arm and leg wounds had healed-just being in the ocean can do that for me, given enough time-but I still felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats."How long-"**

**"We found you last night," Tyson said, "sinking through the water."**

Rachel stopped reading, "You healed fast."

Percy nodded, "Yeah, that happens when I'm surrounded by salt water."

**"The _Princess Andromeda_?"**

**"Went ka-boom," Tyson confirmed.**

**"Beckendorf was on board. Did you find . . ."**

**Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, brother."**

**I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him.**

Percy looked down feeling extremely guilty that he abandoned Beckendorf.

Silena spoke up, "We're reading the future for a reason. This isn't going to happen this time."

Nobody bothered mentioning the fact that if fates had already destined Beckendorf's death, then nothing they did would change that. They all hoped that Silena was right, and that they could avoid Beckendorf's death.

**He couldn't be _gone._ Maybe he'd made it off the ship like I had. Maybe he'd jumped over the side and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water like I could. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion.**

**I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the _Princess Andromeda,_ and I had abandoned him.**

Beckendorf shook his head, "You didn't abandon me Percy. I told you to get out. And," Beckendorf continued, seeing Percy open his mouth to argue, "you had no other choice. Nobody blames you for what you did."

Percy looked around, surprisingly to him, he found nobody looking at him angrily or anybody accusing him. He looked at Silena catching her eye, and was surprised to see only self-loathing in her eyes. Confused, he wondered why she would be blaming herself for hey boyfriends death?

**I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan-a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year.**

Annabeth, who couldn't contain her curiosity, asked, "What is this plan." If even Percy was avoiding it, then it must be bad.

"It'll be in the book."

"Why not just tell me now. What difference will it make?"

"It'll be in the book" Percy repeated exasperatedly.

Annabeth huffed dramatically, but otherwise let the matter drop for now, knowing there was no way she was going to convince Percy right now.

**A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole sea as bright as noon.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."**

**The palace might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed.**

"Oceanus" Annabeth whispered.

"What" Percy asked?

"Oceanus" she repeated. "Titan of the sea. Poseidon's greatest enemy. He's the one who's attacking your dad's palace."

"How could you know that? It could be some other Titan or monster."

"Really" Annabeth challenged. "How many Titans do you know that could challenge Poseidon underwater?"

"..."

"..."

"That's what I thought" Annabeth smirked.

**We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath-well, if you can catch your breath underwater.**

**The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights.**

**The main courtyard was filled with warriors-mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up, except their skin was blue, which I'd never known before.**

Rachel started, "That sounds..."

"Awesome" the Stoll brothers exclaimed.

Percy just smiled at their antics, but he was worried about the underwater city. Tyson had told him _last year _that Poseidon was getting attacked; if he war still hadn't finished, then it was probably going badly.

**Some were tending the wounded. Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us, swimming in a hurry. His eyes were bright green, like that stuff they put in glo-sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in _The Little_ Mermaid.**

The demigods burst out laughing; even Thalia had a hard time suppressing her laughter.

Nico asked, "What is '_The Little Mermaid'?"_

Thalia answered, "It's this little kids show, I used to watch it with Ja..." she clammed up, all amusement gone from her face.

Nobody else said anything. Most demigods' childhoods are touchy subjects.

All Nico could think about was Bianca. Trying to get rid of depressing thoughts, he focused on what Rachel started reading.

**Outside the main courtyard stood large fortifications-towers, walls, and antisiege weapons-but most of these had been smashed to ruins. Others were blazing with a strange green light that I knew well-Greek fire, which can burn even underwater.**

All the laughter immediately dried up. Almost everybody realized that Poseidon was under siege, and if one of the big three was having so much difficulty, then it was horrifying to imagine how the other Gods would be faring.

**Beyond this, the sea floor stretched into gloom. I could see battles raging-flashes of energy, explosions, the glint of armies clashing. A regular human would've found it too dark to see. Heck, a regular human would've been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the cold. Even my heat-sensitive eyes couldn't make out exactly what was going on.**

"Ok, we get it. You have super, awesome powers underwater, there's no need to rub it in our faces" Nico huffed.

**At the edge of the palace complex, a temple with a red coral roof exploded, sending fire and debris streaming in slow motion across the farthest gardens. Out of the darkness above, an enormous form appeared-a squid larger than any skyscraper. It was surrounded by a glittering cloud of dust-at least I thought it was dust, until I realized it was a swarm of mermen trying to attack the monster. The squid descended on the palace and swatted its tentacles, smashing a whole column of warriors.**

Percy winced, he may not know these creatures personally, but he knew how hard it would be on his father to see so many of his kinsmen die.

**Then a brilliant arc of blue light shot from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings. The light hit the giant squid, and the monster dissolved like food coloring in water.**

**"Daddy," Tyson said, pointing to where the light had come from.**

**_"He_ did that?" I suddenly felt more hopeful. My dad had unbelievable powers.**

**He was the god of the sea. He could deal with this attack, right? Maybe he'd let me help.**

"Percy" Annabeth said softly, "It's probably not that simple. If Poseidon could have won this war then he would have already."

"So what? Oceanus is going to win" he asked?

Annabeth shrugged, "Maybe."

**"Have you been in the fight?" I asked Tyson in awe. "Like bashing heads with your awesome Cyclops strength and stuff?"**

**Tyson pouted, and immediately I knew I'd asked a bad question, "I have bee fixing weapons," he mumbled. "Come. Let's go find Daddy."**

**I know this might sound weird to people with, like, regular parents, but I'd only seen my dad four or five times in my life, and never for more than a few minutes.**

**The Greek gods don't exactly show up for their kids' basketball games. Still, I thought I would recognize Poseidon on sight.**

**I was wrong.**

That really scared Percy. The war is probably going worse than he originally thought if he couldn't even recognize his dad. Annabeth's earlier statement echoed in his head. Could it be that Oceanus is actually winning?

**The roof of the temple was a big open deck that had been set up as a command center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved. Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted around as the forces changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life also collapsed in the picture.**

"That's useful" Clarisse said.

"We should have a replica of that in Camp-Half Blood" Connor said.

"Yeah, and instead of only showing monsters, it should also show campers" Travis added.

"Why" Annabeth inquired? "Now that the labyrinth has been destroyed, Camp-Half Blood's borders are impenetrable."

"But, thinks about all the pranks we could accomplish knowing where every..." he was cut off by a sharp blow to the head, courtesy of Katie.

Rachel took that as her cue to continue reading.

**Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle, was a strange assortment of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.**

"Seaweed Brain" Annabeth sighed. "He obviously won't be dressed like that in the middle of a war."

Percy just looked away sheepishly.

**There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked young-though it's hard to tell with non-humans. They could be a thousand years old or three.**

"I'd go with a thousand. They don't allow three year olds in war meetings" Katie said.

**Standing next to him was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. And there was a dolphin-just a regular dolphin, but it was staring at the map intently.**

**"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans."**

**The dolphin spoke in a chattering voice, but I could understand it in my mind: _Yes, lord!_ It sped away.**

**I looked in dismay at Tyson, then back at the old man.**

**It didn't seem possible, but "Dad?" I asked.**

"What" Percy exclaimed. "Why would he look like that?"

Annabeth answered, "He probably reflects how badly the war is going."

Percy nodded his understanding.

**The old man looked up. I recognized the twinkle in his eyes, but his face he looked like he'd aged forty years.**

**"Hello, Percy."**

**"What-what happened to you?"**

Chirs laughed, "The first time you see your father in his palace, and that's what you say." Continuing laughing he added, "That must be encouraging."

**Tyson nudged me.**

**He was shaking his head so hard I was afraid it would fall off, but Poseidon didn't look offended.**

"Is it only me, or does Poseidon seem more chill than other Gods" Connor questioned?

Everybody shrugged, nobody except Thalia, Annabeth, and Percy had seen all the Gods, and Annabeth and Thalia disagreed.

**"It's all right, Tyson," he said. "Percy, excuse my appearance. The war has been hard on me."**

**"But you're immortal," I said quietly. "You can look any way you want."**

**"I reflect the state of my realm," he said. "And right now that state is quite grim. Percy, I should introduce you-I'm afraid you just missed my lieutenant Delphin, God of the Dolphins.**

"There's a God of Dolphins" Nico laughed. "So does that mean there are Gods for lobsters, and salmon, and other underwater creatures?"

Percy groaned, "No, it's only because dolphins are a prominent creature underwater that there is a God of Dolphins."

Pretty much everybody was surprised that Percy could answer that.

**This is my, er, wife, Amphitrite. My dear-_"_**

**The lady in green armor stared at me coldly, then crossed her arms and said, "Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in the battle."**

**She swam away.**

Nico winced, "Well at least she didn't turn you into a plankton or a floating patch of kelp."

Beckendorf grinned, "Why? What did Persephone turn you into. A rose maybe?"

Nico grumbled audibly, "A sunflower."

The room erupted into laughter. "I think I can see the resemblance. You do look very white, just like a sunflower" Thalia teased.

"Oh, shut up" Nico muttered angrily.

This just sent everybody into another round of hysterics.

**I felt pretty awkward, but I guess I couldn't blame her. I'd never thought about it much, but my dad had an immortal wife. All his romances with mortals, including with my mom well, Amphitrite probably didn't like that much****. **

"You just realized this now?" Thalia asked.

"This is the first time I met her" Percy countered.

"Lucky you" Thalia replied, thinking of her first horrendous encounter with Hera.

**Poseidon cleared his throat. "Yes, well and this is my son Triton. Er, my _other_ son."**

**"Your son and heir," the green dude corrected.**

"Poseidon just said his name was Triton, and you still call him _the green dude_" Annabeth asked?

"I doubt it was the biggest thing on my mind, considering I'm in a battlefield" Percy retorted.

**His double fish tails swished back and forth. He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help at last?"**

**He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush underwater, I probably did.**

"What an asshole" Rachel mumbled.

Percy, being the only one to hear her started snickering, earning himself a glare from the rest of the room.

**"Tell me what to do," I said.**

**Triton smiled like that was a cute suggestion-like I was a slightly amusing dog that had barked for him or something. He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry. _I_ will not fail.**

"What's up with him? Why's he being so hostile" Katie asked?

Percy shrugged unknowingly, "It's the future, remember. I don't know either."

**He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect? Then he shot off into the water.**

"He obviously likes Tyson better" Nico said.

"No, really? I never would have guessed" Percy replied.

**Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon-a huge three-pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.**

**"I'm sorry about that," he told me.**

"That's it" Annabeth exclaimed.

Percy, a little started at the outburst asked, "What are you talking about."

"Triton is so hostile towards you, because he's jealous of you."

"That's ridiculous. Why would he be jealous of me?"

"Because of the attention you get from Poseidon."

"Huh, you'd think after living with Poseidon for hundreds and thousands of years, he'd get over that."

**A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium.**

**Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. _Ka-boom!_ The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.**

**"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against Oceanus is going poorly."**

"So why isn't anyone helping him" Percy demanded?

"It's would be impossible for any of the Gods to come underwater and help" Thalia replied. She had already heard all of this from Artemis, and knew that Poseidon was already facing problems.

**He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent."Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?"**

"Pathetic" mumbled Clarisse. "He doesn't even have a real weapon."

Strangely enough, this made everybody feel slightly better about the disastrous war.

**Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans.**

**But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This i well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side."**

**"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"**

"Why are you repeating what Clarisse just said" Connor asked?

"Seriously Perce, think up some original motivational pep talks" Travis huffed.

Percy just watched, amused, and decided to ignore them rather than respond.

**"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.**

**Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me-sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them."**

**I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms-a hundred flailing, fighting arms.**

**"Briares!" I said.**

Percy smiled, 'His dad would need all the help he would get, and having an ancient powerful cyclops that can throw mountains would help.'

**I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his kind-a Hundred-Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We'd saved him from Kronos's prison last summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since.**

**"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is the only one."**

"That's sad" Rachel said. "Imagine being the last of your kind."

**I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and snapped its pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the darkness. Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat.**

**"Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?"**

**I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained about Beckendorf. I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless.**

Clarisse gripped Chris's hand tightly, remembering feeling exactly that way when he went crazy from the labyrinth.

Chris gave her a tentative smile.

**Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed."**

"At least my death accomplished something" Beckendorf said.

"You shouldn't have had to die" Percy replied.

"And he won't in the future" Annabeth stated. "These books were sent for a reason, and maybe avoiding all these unnecessary deaths could be one of them."

**"But we didn't kill him, did we?"**

**As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill.**

**"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time."**

'Time for what' Annabeth wondered?

**"There were demigods on that ship," I said, thinking of the kid I'd seen in the stairwell. Somehow I'd allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I'd convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides, they couldn't really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods . . .**

"They were enemies" Clarisse said. "You did what you had to."

Percy didn't feel any better, and he vowed not to let the war deteriorate so much that it came to killing enemy demigods.

Chris frowned remembering that he was one of these "enemies" not so long ago.

**Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not, they chose their path."**

**"They were brainwashed!" I said. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?"**

Percy stared at the floor guiltily, hating what he was doing.

**I glared at the mosaic-little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture.**

**Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would've pushed him away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn.**

Percy smiled, typical Tyson.

**He hugged me whether I wanted it or not. "Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick."**

The demigods erupted into laughter.

"Tyson is extremely funny accidentally" Travis remarked.

**"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat."**

"God, this book is such a tease" Annabeth said. "Can't it just tell us what the bigger threat is."

"Hey! This is a book about my life, and you're going to be included in it too."

"I haven't made an appearance so far" Annabeth mumbled.

**"The bigger threat?" I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: _The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed._**

**A shadow passed over my father's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp."**

**"Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!"**

**"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere."**

"He has a point" Annabeth said. "You're the demigod of the prophecy. You're supposed to fight Kronos not Oceanus."

"Fighting the lord of time. Gee, that just makes me feel so much better" Percy retorted.

Annabeth shrugged, she wasn't trying to make him feel better, only explain to him why his dad wouldn't let him defend the palace.

**I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup.**

**My brother chewed his lip. "Daddy, Percy can fight with a sword. He is good."**

"You see that Travis? His brother backed him up. Maybe you can learn from this book" Connor exclaimed.

Travis sighed, "You have got to get over that. It was only one time, and Chiron would have just punished us both if I told him I was the one who did it not you."

"It's the principle of the matter. Whatever happened to honor among thieves" Connor asked?

Everybody had a hard time keeping a straight face considering the most devious person in camp was preaching about principle.

**"I know that," Poseidon said gently.**

**"Dad, I can help," I said. "I know I can. You're not going to hold out here much longer."**

**A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corner of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon winced as if he'd just been stabbed.**

"That's probably how he felt" Annabeth said thoughtfully. If his people are dying than his energy must be waning.

"Which basically means he didn't have the power to deflect it" Thalia added.

**"Return to camp," he insisted. "And tell Chiron it is time."**

**"For what?"**

**"You must hear the prophecy. The _entire_ prophecy."**

**I didn't need to ask him which prophecy. I'd been hearing about the "Great Prophecy" for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world-but no pressure.**

Percy stole a quick glance at Annabeth. She was the only demigod who knew about the prophecy, but she was forbidden to reveal anything, and if her horrified expression was anything to go by, then he really wouldn't like the Great Prophecy.

**"What if _this_ is the decision?" I said. "Staying here to fight, or leaving? What if I leave and you . . ."**

**I couldn't say _die._ Gods weren't supposed to die, but I'd seen it happen. Even if they didn't die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been.**

**"Percy, you must go," Poseidon insisted. "I don't know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends at camp. Kronos knew your plans. You have a spy. We will hold here. We have no choice."**

"Shit, the spy" Thalia said. "I forgot about that. We need to take care of the spy before we continue any more missions. If the spy knows our every move than so does Kronos."

Percy nodded, "Yeah, but there's no point worrying about it now. Hopefully we'll find out in this book, and than we can deal with the spy here."

Nobody noticed Silena tense up with guilt, and worry.

**Tyson gripped my hand desperately. "I will miss you, brother!"**

**Watching us, our father seemed to age another ten years. "Tyson, you have work to do as well, my son. They need you in the armory."**

**Tyson pouted some more.**

**"I will go," he sniffled. He hugged me so hard he almost cracked my ribs. "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!"**

"Do not let the monsters kill you dead" Katie repeated, confused.

"He probably just meant, don't let the monsters kill you" Annabeth answered.

**I tried to nod confidently, but it was too much for the big guy. He sobbed and swam away toward the armory, where his cousins were fixing spears and swords.**

**"You should let him fight," I told my father. "He hates being stuck in the armory. Can't you tell?"**

**Poseidon shook his head. "It is bad enough I must send you into danger. Tyson is too young. I must protect him."**

**"You should trust him," I said. "Not try to protect him."**

**Poseidon's eyes flared.**

"He is a God" Beckendorf said. "There's only so much he'll tolerate. Still, compared to Hades, and Zeus; Poseidon had astronomical patience.

Rachel, unable to hold in her curiosity asked Percy, "Have you met Zeus, and Hades as well?"

Percy nodded, "I've seen all the major Gods during the winter solstice a couple years back. Though if I were you, I probably would count myself lucky that I didn't meet them."

Rachel just nodded, deciding to ask all her questions after they took a break from reading.

**I thought I'd gone too far, but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged. On the tiles, the mermaid guy in the crawfish chariot was coming closer to the palace.**

**"Oceanus approaches," my father said. "I must meet him in battle."**

**I'd never been scared for a god before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win.**

**"I will hold," Poseidon promised. "I will not give up my domain. Just tell me, Percy, do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer?"**

"He visited you last summer" Annabeth exclaimed!

"Yeah, just for a few minutes though" Percy replied.

"And you didn't bother mentioning this because..."

"It didn't come up, plus..."

"Okay, okay, you can have your lover's spat later" Thalia interrupted. "Right now, we have a book to read."

Embarrassed, both Percy, and Annabeth immediately shut their mouths, and focused on the book.

**I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace. It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, but since last year I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord. My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday. He'd told me I would know when to "spend it," but so far I hadn't figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn't fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.**

"You actually tried putting a Godly gift into a vending machine" Michael asked?

Percy shrugged, "It didn't get ruined, so no harm done."

**"The time is coming," he promised. "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and we will have a proper celebration."**

Annabeth's eyes darkened, she knew that their would be no birthday celebration for Percy. Even if they won the war, and everything went best case scenario, there would still only be a funeral procession for Percy.

**He smiled, and for a moment I saw the old light in his eyes.**

**Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which should've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.**

**"I must assume my true godly form," Poseidon said. "Go-and good luck, my son."**

**I wanted to encourage him, to hug him or something, but knew better than to stick around. When a god assumes his true form, the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate.**

**"Good-bye, Father," I managed.**

Chris laughed, "How cliche."

Travis nodded his agreement, "Just like in the movies."

**Then I turned away. I willed the ocean currents to aid me. Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've caused any normal human to pop like a balloon.**

**When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the Titan, and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies.**

Rachel closed the book, "That's the end of the chapter."

* * *

**Again, I'm very sorry for taking so long with the update. I hope you do realize that a lot of this was out of my hands. I didn't have internet for a while, and I won't have internet so often. So, I can't guarantee that my next update will be fast, but I can tell you that it will be much faster than this one. **

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, I hope you decide to share your thoughts, good or bad about this chapter. I hope all of you are having a great summer! **


	4. I Get a Sneak Peak at my Death

**Thanks for all the reviews, many of them told me what I was doing right, and what they enjoyed from a chapter. That helped me because the criticisms help me continue to write reactions that people would enjoy reading.**

**A special thanks to guitar-goddess16 for being an amazing beta, and giving me the best feedback.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything. Don't hold your breath.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Rachel passed the book to Micheal who started reading.

**"****I Get a Sneak Peek at my Death,"**

"What a great way to start a chapter" Percy said, while thinking what the hell could that chapter title mean.

**If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news.**

"Don't worry about it" Michael said. "We've been through this; nobody blames you."

"Yeah, but my future book self doesn't know that" Percy said; his guilt almost non-existent considering Beckendorf was healthy, and alive right now.

**Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean. Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, and it's enchanted so most people can't even see it. People don't just **_**appear**_** on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza delivery guys. (It's happened-but that's another story.)**

"What happened" Rachel asked, amused.

"There's really not much to the story" Percy answered. "Like the book says, there was just one really lost pizza delivery guy, and he was sent on his way by Chiron who manipulated the mist to make the delivery guy believe he just imagined camp half-blood.

**Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin. When he spotted me, he got so excited he fell out of his tree.**

Everyone started snickering, "Smooth" Travis teased.

Connor, highly disgruntled, and embarrassed waited for the laughter to die down, and for Michael to continue reading.

**Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet me.**

**Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor.**

**He's a pretty nice guy, but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circumstances, give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.**

Connor smiled at the memory, "At least you learn from your mistakes."

**He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way I can tell them apart.****They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.**

"I'll take the first part as a compliment" Travis said. "The second..." Travis continued, "Not so much. Luke just gives all sons of Hermes a bad name. I can't wait until he dies."

Percy raised his eyebrows, he, and everybody other than Chris never realized how Luke's betrayal affected the Stoll brothers. After all Luke was a close brother, and friend to them.

**"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?"**

**Then he saw my expression, and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out . . ."**

Nobody said anything, having already gone through this in this timeline, nobody wanted to prolong the tragedy of Beckendorf's death.

**Together we climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred yards away, people were already streaming toward us, smiling and excited. **_**Percy's back,**_** they were probably thinking. **_**He's saved the day! Maybe he brought souvenirs**_

"I doubt that was what anyone was thinking" Annabeth said. "We were probably just hoping for news that the war was over."

**I stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them. No sense rushing down there to tell them what a loser I was.**

"Don't worry about that" Thalia grinned. "We already knew that."

"You'd be a loser if you kept blaming yourself" Beckendorf added.

Percy just nodded in response, and just rolled his eyes at Thalia's jab.

**I gazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp Half-Blood looked the first time I ever saw it. That seemed like a bajillion years ago.**

"So much has happened since then" Katie reminisced.

**From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley. On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches, magically protecting the camp from its enemies. The guard dragon Peleus was so big now I could see him from here-curled around the tree trunk, lending up smoke signals as he snored.**

**To my right spread the woods. To my left, the canoe lake littered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side. Twelve cabins-one for each Olympian god-made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. Farther south were the strawberry fields, the armory, and the four-story Big House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weather vane.**

**In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You could see it in the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill.**

"The demigods, and satyrs didn't seem different than any other people" Rachel commented.

"It's probably, because of the war" Annabeth answered. "Kronos hasn't really done anything yet. But soon, we're going to be neck deep trying to protect ourselves."

**There weren't as many at camp as four summers ago. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others-we tried not to talk about them-had gone over to the enemy.**

Chris stared down guiltily.

**The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.**

"I guess that answers your question RED" Nico said.

"RED?" Rachel questioned the use of her initials.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "It's a nickname, _RED_" the last part uttered mockingly.

"I know that" Rachel retorted. "I was wondering why."

Nico shrugged, "It seemed like a good nickname for you. Considering your hair, and all."

**Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said MY OTHER CAR IS A CENTAUR and a bow slung over his back.**

**"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where . . ."**

**Annabeth ran in right behind him, and I'll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her. **

Percy glared at anyone who dared say anything. He felt furious that his thoughts were one display like some art piece for all the world to see. He sneaked a quick glance to Annabeth, and saw her staring at him grinning to herself.

**It's not that she tried to look good. We'd been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing-usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor.****Her eyes were stormy gray. ****Most of the time we couldn't get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other.**

Almost everyone was smiling or laughing at this point, not really surprised. However, it was still amusing, and interesting to see what an affect Annabeth had on Percy, and how ignorant the two of them were to each other.

Meanwhile, Percy red-faced, was thinking what this meant. This wasn't the first time he had thoughts like these about Annabeth, but hearing it spoken from another person's mouth was eye-opening. He couldn't actually like Annabeth. They were friends. Best friends, and just because he thought she was as beautiful as Aphrodite, if not more, didn't mean anything. Right?

Yeah, but Katie, and Thalia are my friends too. I don't think of them that way at all. Confused, and bewildered he kept wondering what he really felt for Annabeth.

**Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head.**

"You still don't think Kelp Head likes you" Thalia whispered to Annabeth.

Katie who was the only one privy to the conversation added, "No Thalia, I'm sure every girl he sees has his heart racing, mind reeling, and he probably also notices all those things about them too."

Annabeth just glared at both of them.

"Yeah, and I'm sure it's just Annabeth wanting to protect her _friend_ every time she rants about killing Rachel" Thalia added innocently."

"Guys, shut up" Annabeth hissed furiously.

** Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when I thought maybe . . . well, that we might get past the strangle-each-other phase.**

Thalia decided to take one last stab at trying to make Annabeth admit her feelings, "All joking aside. Percy really does like you the same you like him. Don't these last few paragraphs prove that."

Annabeth shook her head stubbornly, "I don't like him as anything more than a friend, and just because his future book-self said a few good things about me, doesn't prove that he _does _like me."

Thalia rolled her eyes at her friends pride. She just wouldn't let herself be happy.

At the same time Nico was having a similar conversation with Percy. "So you like Annabeth huh" Nico grinned.

Percy, having realized exactly what Annabeth meant to him replied, "No, I love her. It's crazy, I know, but... I can't explain it. I was just too stupid to realize it until now."

After several moments in which Nico recovered from his shock, he patted Percy on the shoulder, "You may not think so, but she loves you too. She refuses to admit it, because of the same reason you used to deny it."

"Oh, and what reason would that be."

"You're scared. Don't look at me like that. You are, or hopefully, were. You're scared that she doesn't like you the same way, and you're scared of getting rejected. And, it's probably a lot worse, and more complicated, because of Rachel, and Luke, and the fact that you two are best friends.

Percy grumbled "Dude, you totally just made me sound like a chick."

Nico laughed, "At least you've stopped denying it."

**"What happened?" She grabbed my arm. "Is Luke-"**

Thalia shook her head at Annabeth's stupidity, "Percy goes on a dangerous mission, and the first person you ask about is Luke?"

Annabeth looked down ashamedly,_ 'Some friend I am.'_

**"The ship blew up," I said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where-"**

**Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her.**

**"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.**

**I glanced at Chiron helplessly.**

**The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House-"**

**"No," she muttered. "No. ****No."**

**She started to cry, and the rest of us stood around, too stunned to speak. We'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stolen the anchor for the entire camp.**

Throughout reading Silena's reaction Beckendorf was apologizing, "I'm sorry. I promised to come back, and I just left you. God, I can't even imagine what I would do if you died."

Silena looked up at Beckendorf, unable to stand the look of anguish on his face, she placed a hand at the back of his neck, and pulled her lips up to his. For a few blissful seconds, she was able to block out all the pain, and guilt she had been feeling, and just concentrate on moving her lips in sync with his. That is, until she had to breathe.

Faces inches apart, she whispered, "You're here now, and that's what matters." What she didn't add is how she is the reason he died, and how she should be apologizing until her voice gave out, not the other way around.

**Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever-a daughter of the war god and a daughter of the love goddess-**

**but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.**

Silena finally spoke up, "Clarisse isn't my bodyguard. She's a good friend" she finished, smiling at Clarisse.

Percy raised his hands defensively, "I didn't say she wasn't your friend, I just said that she would have protected you _like _a bodyguard."

"Damn right I would" Clarisse muttered.

Silena narrowed her eyes skeptically at Percy, but decided to let it go. There were much more important matters to worry about.

**Clarisse was dressed in her bloodred combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandana. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.**

**"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."**

**Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see me now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.**

**Only Annabeth and Chiron stayed behind.**

**Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."**

Percy smiled at Annabeth, despite the tragic, and serious situation she still found some way to insult him, even while consoling him.

**"Thanks," I said. "Me too."**

**Chiron put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"**

**I didn't want to go through it again, but I told them the story, including my dream about the Titans. I left out the detail about Nico. Nico had made me promise not to tell anybody about his plan until I made up my mind, and the plan was so scary I didn't mind keeping it a secret.**

Annabeth shook her head, this book, and it's secrets.

**Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."**

**"Poseidon mentioned another threat," I said. "Something even bigger than the **_**Princess Andromeda.**_** I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."**

**Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something I didn't. I hated when they did that.**

"You really should get used to that by now, considering there's so much we know that you don't" Annabeth teased.

Percy ignored her, and just focused on listening to Michael.

**We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.**

**"One more thing." I took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy."**

**Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, we will show Percy the truth-all of **_**it.**_** Let's go to the attic."**

**I'd been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than I wanted to.**

**A ladder ledup from the top of the staircase. I wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try.**

**"You know where it is," he told Annabeth. "Bring it down, please."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Come on, Percy."**

**The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual. Old hero trophies were slacked everywhere-dented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: STOLEN FROM CHRYSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, 1988.**

**I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter **_**M.**_** I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it. The tag was dated last summer. It read: **_**Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth.**_

**"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" I asked.**

**Annabeth gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?"**

**We locked eyes. I thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St. Helens, when Annabeth thought I was going to die and she kissed me.**

"What" Silena exclaimed! "You two kissed!"

The rest of the demigods were just as shocked, and looked at Annabeth expectantly.

Percy smiled, courage building up to tell Annabeth just how he felt.

But before he could speak Annabeth spoke up, "It was a mistake." She didn't look at Percy, "A stupid one at that. A mistake that will never happen again."

The momentary shock, and excitement in the room died out faster than it came.

Percy felt downcast, and humiliated that he believed that Annabeth felt the same way. He was just deluding himself, and he just wanted to forget it. He wanted to go back to ignoring his feelings. Because being oblivious to his feelings was better than the torrent of pain, and anguish he felt. How he suddenly felt betrayed for some reason, and how that simple sentence had constricted his chest, and given him the worst indescribable feeling _ever._

**She cleared her throat and looked away. "Prophecy."**

**"Right." I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy."**

**We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle-a shriveled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress. Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl.**

**If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come up here to get a quest. This summer, that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions. We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.**

The demigods turned even more somber. Ever since they started sending out missions without consulting the oracle, casualties had sky-rocketed. But they had no other choice. They couldn't just sit back, and let Kronos run rampant.

**Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist-the spirit of the Oracle-that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy, she moved. Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message. I wasn't sure what she'd do for the "Great Prophecy." I half expected her to start tap dancing or something.**

The room erupted into laughter. "You have the weirdest thoughts" Katie spluttered, between fits of laughter

**But she just sat there like she was dead-which she was.**

"Are you sure there isn't something wrong with your brain Kelp Head" Thalia asked?

"Please just shut up, I really want to hear what the prophecy is about" Percy replied.

**"I never understood this," I whispered.**

**"What?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Why it's a mummy."**

**"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful maiden.****The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me **_**she**_** was like that fifty years ago." Annabeth pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."**

"What, why," Pollux asked?

"Maybe if you let Michael read the you'll find out," Annabeth retorted.

**"What happened?"**

**Annabeth started to say something, then apparently changed her mind. "Let's just do our job and get out of here."**

**I looked nervously at the Oracle's withered face. "So what now?"**

**Annabeth approached the mummy and held out her palms. "O Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy."**

**I braced myself, but the mummy didn't move. Instead, Annabeth approached and unclasped one of its necklaces. I'd never paid too much attention to its jewelry before. I figured it was just hippie love beads and stuff. But when Annabeth turned toward me, she was holding a leather pouch-like a Native American medicine pouch on a cord braided with feathers. She opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky.**

"Are you fu..." he caught himself, "joking? It's just been in the attic the entire time."

Annabeth gave Percy an apologetic glance, the very last thing he wanted from her after he recent comment.

**"No way," I said. "You mean all these years, I've been asking about this stupid prophecy, and it's been right there around her neck?"**

**"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Percy, I read this when I was ten years old, and I still have nightmares about it."**

_'Yeah'_ Annabeth thought,_ 'Nightmares that you won't be able to avoid the prophecy. That you'll die.'_

**"Great," I said. "Can I read it now?"**

**"Downstairs at the war council," Annabeth said. "Not in front of . . . you know."**

**I looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and I decided not to argue. We headed downstairs to join the others. I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I ever visited the attic.**

Everybody just looked at Percy sympathetically.

Silena, unable to take the lingering tension, and pessimistic aura, said, "It doesn't mean you'll die. Most probably you just won't go on another quest. I mean, why would you need to after Kronos is dead."

Slightly comforted, Percy settled back against the getting-uncomfortable wall.

**The senior counselors had gathered around the Ping-Pong table. Don't ask me why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils. When Annabeth, Chiron, and I came in, though, it looked more like a shouting match.**

**Clarisse was still in full battle gear. Her electric spear was strapped to her back. (Actually, her **_**second**_** electric spear, since I'd broken the first one. She called the spear "Maimer." Behind her back, everybody else called it "Lamer.")**

Everybody waited for the explosion following that statement.

Realizing why Michael stopped, Clarisse rolled her eyes, "Did you really think I didn't know about your nickname."

The look of surprise on most of the demigods faces was all the answer she needed.

Lightly chuckling, Michael continued.

**She had her boar-shaped helmet under one arm and a knife at her belt.**

**She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, the new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer. Michael stood four feet six, with another two feet of attitude.**

**He reminded me of a ferret, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features-either because he scowled so much or because he spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow.**

"A ferret" Michael yelled indignantly. "Really?"

"Sorry" Percy apologized, having a hard time keeping a smile from his face.

**"It's **_**our**_** loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"**

**Around the table, people were trying not to laugh-the Stoll brothers, ****Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter. Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile. Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the Ping-Pong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her. It seemed unfair that she had to be here. I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf.**

Beckendorf smiled gratefully at Percy, but other than tightening his arms around Silena; the paragraph elicited no response from him.

**"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?"**

**Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."**

**"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.**

**"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."**

**"What are you talking about?" I demanded.**

**Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any of us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."**

**"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.**

Connor started snickering, his brother could be hilarious sometimes.

**"What issue?" I asked.**

**Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"**

**Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters-"**

**"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and light when you need us, and not complain!"**

**"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.**

**Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D-"**

**"As you know," Chiron interrupted, his tone slightly angry now, "our director, Dionysus, is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."**

**"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are **_**any**_** of you going to side with me?"**

**Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.**

"Thanks for the support" Clarisse said.

"Look Clarisse, if none of them supported you, then it's probably for a good reason" Beckendorf reasoned. "Maybe you're going to have to accept the fact that this time you're wrong."

**"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost . . . Anyway, I apologize. To **_**you.**_** Nobody else."**

**Silena didn't seem to register her words.**

"Of course not, Charlie just died, and you're arguing about _loot_" Silena exlaimed.

**Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."**

"Dammit Clarisse" Percy snapped. "I just risked my life for this war. Beckendorf just _died_ for this war. Chris went insane, because of it, and now, because of some stupid argument over loot; you're going to abandon us. Some warrior you are" Percy spat.

That was too much for Clarisse, jumping up she bought her fist back to punch Percy. Nobody insulted her like that. Mid-swing, Chris grabbed her arm, and managed to stop her. Attempting to calm her down he whispered, "Please stop Clarisse. This isn't the time to get into a fight. Deal with it later."

Breathing heavily, and barely keeping her anger in check she sat back down.

Percy, wisely decided not to continue antagonizing Clarisse, knowing that she was just one insult away from getting into a full-fledged fight.

**The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.**

Just as they were now.

**Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."**

**"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"**

**"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?"**

**Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced.**

"Well we definitely figured out your fatal flaw" Annabeth said. "Pride. You have to make sure it doesn't cloud your judgement, and has you making bad decisions." '_I know my pride has brought me down more than once,' _Annabeth thought to herself, reliving in her mind, her comment about about the kiss. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she tried to forget her own idiocy of blatantly telling Percy that she never wanted to kiss him in the first place. _'Thank God he doesn't have access to my thoughts.'_ _  
_

**I wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about, but I looked at Annabeth and she mouthed the words **_**I'll tell you later.**_

**"Now," Chiron continued, "if you please, counselors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy-the Great Prophecy."**

A feeling of cold dread settled within Annabeth._ 'Here it comes'_ she thought.

**Annabeth handed me the parchment. It felt dry and old, and my fingers fumbled with the string. I uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, and began to read:**

_**"A half-blood of the eldest dogs . . ."**_

The suffocating tension was broken, as everybody started to roar with laughter.

"I wish the Gods heard that" Nico said.

"I'd probably be dead within seconds" Percy laughed.

**"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's **_**gods.**_** Not **_**dogs**_**."**

**"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes I really hate it. The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets. **_**"A half~blood of the eldest gods . . . shall reach sixteen against all odds . . ."**_

**I hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started in my fingers as if the paper was freezing.**

_**"And see the world in endless sleep,**_

_**The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap."**_

Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Annabeth cut him off, "Can we just finish the prophecy without interruptions, and just discuss it after the chapter?"

Percy nodded numbly.

**Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket. A cursed blade? Chiron once told me Riptide had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible my own sword could get me killed?**

**And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?**

**"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."**

**My mouth felt like it was full of sand, but I spoke the last two lines.**

_**"A single choice shall. . . shall end his days.**_

_**Olympus**__**to per**_**-**_**pursue**_**-"**

_**"Preserve,"**_** Annabeth said gently. "It means **_**to save.**_**"**

**"I know what it means," I grumbled.**

_**"Olympus to preserve or raze."**_

The room was deathly quiet. Nico looked over at his cousin in concern. _  
_

"Percy" Annabeth said softly. "Are you okay?" Stupid question, but what else was she supposed to say.

"I-I don't know." he replied. "I just need time to think about it."

That was not at all true. He knew exactly how he felt. Angry was the foremost emotion. Followed closely by betrayal. All this time, Chiron, and Annabeth had been teaching him, training him, so in the end he could die. Just like feeding a lamb before leading it to it's death. His mentor, and best friend knew he was going to die, and they didn't bother telling him; rather they just used him like some tool.

**The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"**

**"Not **_**raise,**_**"Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means **_**destroy.**_**"**

**"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."**

**"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks."**

**Everybody was looking at me-with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear.**

**Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room. "You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy. You've had enough on your shoulders-"**

**"Without realizing I was going to die in the end anyway?" I said. "Yeah, I get it."**

"I can't believe you didn't tell" Percy said, his anger getting the better of him.

"I couldn't. The Gods wouldn't allow it."

"They wouldn't let Chiron tell me, sure. But you could have told me any time" Percy countered.

"That would have been disastrous. Whenever somebody knows their fate, they always try to change it, and it never works. They usually end of making it worse. What good would've telling you achieved" Annabeth asked?

Percy had no response to that.

**Chiron gazed at me sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try to reassure me.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."**

Percy scoffed, "Yeah, a single choice shall end his days seems to be pretty clear to me."

**"Sure," I said. **_**"A single choice shall end his days.**_** That has tons of meanings, right?"**

**"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered. **_**"The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.**_** Maybe we could find this cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"**

"You can't stop a prophecy. Sometimes trying to stop it, makes it come true" Thalia reasoned.

**I hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade was Riptide or Kronos's scythe. Either way, I doubted we could stop the prophecy. A blade was supposed to reap my soul. As a general rule, I preferred not to have my soul reaped.**

**"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time-"**

**"No." I folded up the prophecy and shoved it into my pocket. I felt defiant and angry, though I wasn't sure who I was angry with. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"**

_'Well I have plenty of time to worry about it now'_ Percy thought bitterly.

**Annabeth's hands were shaking a little. She wouldn't meet my eyes.**

"I don't want you to die Percy" Annabeth said gently.

Percy didn't respond.

**"Let's move on," I said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."**

**Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"**

Silena was as rigid as a board. Beckendorf mistaking her fear, whispered, "We'll catch the spy. Whoever it is won't get away this."

Horrible guilt bubbled within Silena, not wanting the rest of the room to see her tears, she turned her upper body, and buried her head in the crook of Beckendorf's neck; trying to get a grip on herself.

**I told them what had happened on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**-how Kronos had known we were coming, how he'd shown me the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp.**

**Silena started to cry again, and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.**

**"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "we've suspected there might a spy for years, right? Somebody kept passing information to Luke-like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. It must be somebody who knew him well."**

**Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth.**

Annabeth's eyes flashed dangerously, a storm just waiting to be unleashed.

Connor flinched, _'Did Percy really have to notice that. Annabeth was damn scary.'_

** She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly.**

"See I'm not actually blaming you" Connor said.

**"Um, I mean, it could be anybody."**

**"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies.**

**"Like one of Luke's siblings."**

"Just because we pranked you doesn't mean we're traitors" Travis said defensively.

Michael wisely read on before Katie could reply.

**Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.**

**"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and . . . and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.**

**Hot chocolate trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed.**

**"She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help. We need to keep our eyes open for a silver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too."**

"That's actually a really good plan" Annabeth said, surprised.

**Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** won't stop Kronos forever."**

**"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."**

**I scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?"**

**He and Annabeth looked at each other like, **_**It's time.**_** Did I mention I hate it when they do that?**

"Why do you hate it so much" Annabeth asked?

"Mainly, because it's condescending, but also because you always never feel the need to tell me anything until the last minute" Percy replied. "It's really annoying.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your . . . mortal friends.**

**Annabeth blushed. It dawned on me that she knew I'd been hanging out with Rachel, and I felt guilty. Then I felt angry that I felt guilty. I was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like . . .**

"What's so bad about having a mortal friend" Rachel questioned?

"It's not bad." Beckendorf answered. "It's surprising. A friendship with a mortal is based on lies, because you can't tell them the biggest part of your life. So, having a good mortal friend, is near impossible."

**"Tell me what's happened," I said.**

**Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate where we usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights. Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."**

**The mist shimmered. I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano-Mount St. Helens. As I watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out. A newscaster's voice was saying **_**"**_**-**_**even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done."**_

**I knew all about last year's eruption. I'd caused it. But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole. I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States.**

"You caused the Mt. Saint Helens explosion" Rachel exclaimed!

Percy nodded sheepishly. "It was an accident."

**The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, ****but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could've used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat. The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster were laughing.**

Everyone was frozen with shock.

The faintest flicker of fear appeared on Annabeth's face. "It's Typhon"

**"It's him," I said. "Typhon."**

**I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like **_**No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!**_

Everyone burst into laughter.

Connor wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, "Could you imagine Typhon being on the side of the Gods."

Michael smiled at the thought, "Yeah, then Kronos, and Typhon could fight it out, and kill each other."

"If only things were that easy" Pollux said.

**But no such luck. He simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever faced. He has been freed from under the mountain at last. But this scene is from two days ago. **_**Here**_** is what is happening today."**

**Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains. Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path-ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.**

"All those people" Rachel whispered, white faced. "Aren't the Gods going to help them?"

"I don't think they can" Annabeth replied.

_**"Monumental floods,"**_** an announcer was saying. **_**"Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction."**_** The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest city. I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant-just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block. His angry roar rolled across the plains like a nuclear blast. Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swat them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. Then some ****kind of huge bird-a monstrous owl-dived in to attack the giant.**

"That must be Apollo, and Athena" Percy turned to Annabeth for confirmation, "Right?"

Annabeth nodded, "Looks like they're attacking Typhon."

**"Are those . . . the gods?" I said.**

**"Yes, Percy," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhon is marching forward-toward New York. Toward Olympus."**

**I let that sink in. "How long until he gets here?"**

**"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days.**

"The exact day of my birthday" Percy remarked.

**Most of the Olympians are there . . . except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."**

**"But then who's guarding Olympus?"**

**Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus."**

"The minor Goddesses will probably still be protecting Olympus" Beckendorf said.

"Yeah, but most of them have been twisted, and convinced to join the Titan's side" Annabeth said grimly..

**I thought about Kronos's words on the ship: **_**I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus.**_

**Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhon? It was sure terrifying enough. But Kronos was always fooling us, misdirecting our attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in my dream, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, as if Typhon were only the first.**

**"It's a trick," I said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."**

**Chiron looked at me gravely. "Something worse than Typhon? I hope not."**

"For once, I think Percy is right" Annabeth said. "Hopefully not something worse than Typhon, but there will definitely be another attack on Olympus, since the Gods are not there protecting it."

**"We have to defend Olympus," I insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."**

**"He did," Travis Stoll reminded me. "But you sunk his ship."**

**Everyone was looking at me. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least I'd given them a little bit of hope.**

"And you're just going to give us false hope that Kronos's second attack is actually gone" Katie intoned dryly.

**I glanced at Annabeth. I could tell we were thinking the same thing: What if the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** was a ploy? What if Kronos **_**let**_** us blow up that ship so we'd lower our guard?**

**But I wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission.**

"So Charlie sacrificed himself for nothing" Silena sobbed.

"No, not nothing" Annabeth comforted. "Even if Kronos does have another attack planned; letting the Princess Andromeda reach Manhattan would have been devastating."

**"Maybe you're right," I said, though I didn't believe it.**

**I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst.**

"Aren't you just making us all feel warm, and fuzzy" Nico said. "Great leadership skills. Do I need to remind you that you need to boost morale, not lower it?"

"I didn't think anybody was going to read my thoughts. Plus, I didn't say this out loud" Percy countered.

**Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen-which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.**

**"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for one night."**

**He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhon and the gods disappeared.**

**"That's an understatement," I muttered.**

**And the war council adjourned.**

"That's the end of the chapter" Michael said, closing the book.

* * *

**I realize that the demigods are arguing a lot right now, but that won't last throughout the entire book. For now, the atmosphere is tense, and angry. Percy is pissed that he's going to die, and he feels betrayed. **

**Clarisse may seem OOC for apologizing, but remember, the two months of war before TLO hasn't happened yet. So, nobody is on edge yet, and more importantly she has a clearer head, considering she hasn't been fighting monsters 24/7. More than that, seeing herself from a different perspective makes her realize that it's stupid what she's doing. **

**As for Percy's reaction. In the book he barely reacted at all, which I thought was pretty ridiculous. He didn't even give a second thought to the fact that he was going to die. So how is my reaction not OOC? Simple, he hasn't fully experienced the tragedies of war yet. His friends haven't died in various missions, and also in TLO he's much more battle hardened. More importantly, Beckendorf just selflessly sacrificed himself (in the book), and that probably made him less mad about his own death. All these reasons are why I think that if Percy had heard the prophecy earlier, like in this fic, the reaction would have been greater. **

**The next chapter will be a break chapter, and will focus more on Percy's reaction to the prophecy. Percy, and Annabeth's deteriorating friendship. Beckendorf, and Silena, and the spy. **


End file.
